Share this
This review was made possible by advance screeners of Sunny. Sunny premieres on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, July 10th with two episodes. New episodes will air every Wednesday.
Sunny is a dark comedic drama produced by A24 and stars Rashida Jones as Suzie. Suzie moved to Japan with the exotic thought that it would make her life incredible. In reality being an American in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language is insanely isolating. But Suzie did find solace when she met Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima). They got married and even had a child.
One day when Masa and their son, Zen, go on a trip their plane crashes and both are presumed dead. Suzie wasn’t left all alone in the wake of this tragedy, as consolation she’s given Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura). A domestic robot made by her husband’s robotics company. The thing is, she thought he worked in refrigeration…
AN UNLIKELY BOND
While Suzie is blindsided by her new robotic companion and the fact her husband kept his work a secret, she soon realizes that Sunny might be the only remaining piece of her husband she has left on earth. As they unearth Masa’s mysterious past, a friendship blooms between the two. Sunny helps Suzie open up in this time of grief. Maybe it’s the need to find out the secrets her husband kept from her or maybe it’s finally having a friend that leads her to finally leave the house and out of the shell she has trapped herself in.
Along the road of uncovering Masa’s past, Suzie gains some new friends… and enemies. A local bartender Mixxy (Annie the Clumsy) joins her voyage of finding the truth, even though some of her actions sometimes seem devious. The deeper into the rabbit hole they go, somehow Masa’s robotics career was linked with the Japanese underworld, now placing Suzie and her new friends in their crosshairs.
A NOT SO THRILLING THRILLER
Forewarning the series is predominantly in Japanese, so get your reading glasses ready. This is not a deterrent at all, as it makes you pay attention closer. Although it does amplify the pacing flaws of the series, putting a magnifying glass on the slow moving story that will beg the question: “Are we there yet?” The series is listed as a thriller, while the plot is focused on the mystery of Masa’s past, it’s more surprising than thrilling.
This is one of the few times I will say this series could have worked better as a movie. It’s well acted, has incredible production and set design and the premise is there, but it takes too long to getting to the finish line. The last few episodes of the season are fantastic, but the journey there is drawn out and has moments where they try to make you feel tension rather than building it with the narrative so it exudes that feeling naturally.
Sunny is quite possibly the most A24 feeling series they have produced. A slow burn mystery steeped in grief explored through science fiction. While some of its moving parts take awhile to get going, the conclusion is extremely satisfying and leaves you wanting more.
